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Silk Road Virtual Tour — Transcript

by Clayton Brown · 2,126 words · 350 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01this is a virtual tour of the Silk Road
0:03with Professor Clayton
0:05Brown as you can see from this map the
0:08Silk Road extended from Rome in the west
0:10to Shion ancient capital of China in the
0:12east in 221 BC the Chin Dynasty
0:16Consolidated China's many Waring
0:17kingdoms into a single massive Empire
0:20about the same time the conquests of
0:22Alexander the Great linked societies
0:24from Europe to India widening existing
0:26trade routes and forging new ones over
0:29the next several centuries what
0:30developed was a complex Trade Network
0:32that spanned the Eurasian continent
0:35drawing from China silk but also tea
0:38porcelain and Jade while gold silver
0:41fine glassware and wine departed from
0:44Rome along the way oils salts carpets
0:47incense and perfumes were picked up in
0:49the Middle East while India yielded
0:51Jewels spices Ivory sandalwood and
0:54cotton as we'll see the route was 5,000
0:57Mi long and
0:58treacherous but but so lucrative that it
1:01lasted over a thousand years most
1:04importantly the links that it fors were
1:06not only commercial but cultural the
1:08Silk Road shaped every society within
1:10its vast
1:11Network Rome was the Western Terminus of
1:14the Silk Road beginning in the 1st
1:15Century BC so we'll start our tour at
1:17the
1:20Coliseum the Greeks and Romans used huge
1:23quantities of inscense to worship their
1:24gods and so to serve that demand trade
1:27emerged early on that passed through the
1:29Arabian pen Pula called the spice Road
1:31where frankincense myrr and other exotic
1:35perfumes and oils were exchanged for
1:37copper tin iron gems and textiles spices
1:41came from as far away as India and when
1:43the Romans acquired a taste for
1:44luxurious silk the spice Road expanded
1:47Eastward into China and became the Silk
1:50Road this is a Roman Mosaic depicting a
1:52musician playing a pipe and a dancing
1:55girl wearing sheer silk robes our word
1:57silk comes from the Latin word series
2:00which is what the Romans called the
2:01people of China although the 13th
2:03century Italian Merchant Marco Polo
2:05supposedly traveled the Silk Road to
2:07China where he lived for 17 years
2:09serving kubl Khan's Court few Romans
2:12actually made the Trek to China and few
2:13Chinese came to Europe instead trade
2:16relied on a series of middlemen who each
2:18took their cut so that by the time the
2:20silk reached Rome it was literally worth
2:22its weight in gold Chinese silk became
2:24so popular that the Roman emperors
2:26instituted sary laws that forbade
2:28commoners from wearing silk only Nobles
2:31could wear this fine garment as a
2:32distinction of their higher
2:36status departing Rome our first stop
2:39over as we follow the Silk Road is a
2:40famous site called Petra in the Middle
2:42East we call this region the Middle East
2:45because it served as the middle ground
2:46between Rome and China in the far east
2:49as trade along the Silk Road grew new
2:51commercial hubs emerged at strategic
2:53locations along the Route the most
2:55famous of these Caravan cities is Petra
2:57capital of the ancient naban Kingdom 20
3:00years ago but today its ruins lie within
3:01the country of
3:03Jordan at its height Petra's population
3:06of 30,000 played host to camel Caravans
3:08bearing silks perfumes and spices from
3:10far away although today most of the city
3:12lies buried beneath the sand many
3:14palaces temples and tombs carved into
3:16the Sandstone Cliffs
3:18remain this is alaz or the treasury a
3:2112-story facade that was probably
3:23originally a temple the word Petra comes
3:26from the Greek for stone and is related
3:28to our word petrify
3:30due to Alexander the Great's conquests
3:32which paved the way for the Silk Road
3:34many of these cities used Greek as the
3:36common language a Common Language
3:38facilitated trade since those who
3:39traversed the Silk Road came from many
3:41lands and spoke many different
3:43languages alaz Li is directly opposite
3:46the seek a narrow but 250t tall natural
3:49Canyon that restricted access to the
3:51city and thus provided some
3:53protection if you've seen Indiana Jones
3:56in the Last Crusade the film was shot on
3:58location at Petra although of course the
4:00events in the film are fictionalized
4:02they basically used the actual sight of
4:03Petra as a
4:06prop a Petra was gradually eclipsed by
4:09an oasis town to the north in the Syrian
4:12desert known as
4:15Palmyra as people and money flowed
4:18through this city it grew to become a
4:20major stopover along the Silk
4:22Road by the 3rd Century ad Palmyra had
4:26become one of the largest cities in the
4:28Roman Empire with as many as 200,000
4:32residents to serve palmyra's
4:35Cosmopolitan Community the city featured
4:37enormous Limestone monuments common
4:39under the helenistic age such as temples
4:42to the various religions like the one
4:44that you see
4:48here Roman urbanization projects also
4:52were responsible for the colon streets
4:54down palmyra's Main thoroughfare and you
4:56can see what remains of them
4:58here
5:07following this Main Street
5:10then you'll be able to see an open air
5:14Marketplace the now empty
5:17Square on the left
5:19side and to the right a Greek style
5:22Amphitheater which is the half circle
5:26the Coliseum was essentially two Greek
5:29ampath
5:30back to back in a full
5:32circle there were also banqueting halls
5:34and public
5:36baths all in the Greek or helenistic
5:45style here's a 360 view of the Palmyra
5:49Amphitheater and the ruins out in the
5:58background
6:03Islam would later come to dominate this
6:05region and as trade along the Silk Road
6:07waned in the second Millennium so too
6:09did the once thriving Oasis town of
6:12Palmyra in the 17th century a castle or
6:15Citadel was constructed on the town's
6:17outskirts that today overlooks the ruins
6:19of Roman
6:28Palmyra
6:31located in today's northern Afghanistan
6:33the city of baman was the last major
6:36stop for Caravans before setting out to
6:38cross the inhospitable Central Asian
6:40mountains and deserts at places like
6:43baman and bactria helenistic culture and
6:46language reached its easternmost point
6:48and Traders were confronted with a mix
6:50of Greek Chinese Indian Persian and
6:53Nomad cultures found nowhere else in the
6:56world pictured is the great Buddha of
6:58baman destroyed by the Taliban in
7:012001 departing the city these giant
7:04Buddhist statues garbed in Greco Roman
7:06style toas baade Travelers for a well
7:08and it was to these gods that Traders
7:10would offer prayers for safe passage
7:12they would need
7:16it Caravans then funneled through the
7:18treacherous Korum pass a narrow Gateway
7:21in the westernmost extension of the
7:23himan
7:27range the caror mountain hold the
7:29world's largest glacier outside of the
7:31poles and K2 the world's second highest
7:36peak today the pass is home to the
7:38world's highest elevation International
7:40Highway the karakorum highway which
7:42follows roughly the same route traversed
7:44by these ancient
7:47Traders the nomadic Warriors of Central
7:49Asia such as the kusan maintained the
7:52passage and protected Caravans passing
7:54through their territory for a fee of
7:57course moving through the car Corum pass
8:00Caravans would meet the tlam Maan desert
8:02that fills the tarim
8:05Basin the tlam Maan is a cold desert
8:07reaching at most 100° F in the summer
8:10but nights are very cold with
8:12temperatures below zero in the winter
8:14Caravans would skirt the desert hugging
8:16the foot of the pamir and tienshan
8:18ranges and moving from Oasis town to
8:20Oasis town you can still see the
8:22remnants of these Oasis communities
8:24sandwiched between the mountains and the
8:26desert if you look for the Blue Lake
8:27surrounded by lush green vet
8:32vation in the Heyday of the Silk Road
8:35these towns thrived with ins restaurants
8:37administrative buildings Buddhist
8:38temples and monasteries residences and
8:40even large Estates with fruit orchards
8:43but after about a millennium the Silk
8:44Road was abandoned taklamakan in fact
8:47means abandoned place or place of ruins
8:50according to local lore sandstorms swept
8:52in from the desert and buried these
8:53towns in a matter of minutes and over
8:55the past Century archaeologists have
8:57indeed discovered temples and homes that
8:58have been buried under the sand for
9:00Millennia along with long-lost Buddhist
9:02scriptures early Buddhist artworks
9:04bearing both Greek and Chinese influence
9:06bricks of dried tea that never made it
9:08to Europe and even the remnants of grape
9:10Vineyards and Peach
9:12[Music]
9:14Orchards the Taran Basin was China's
9:16western frontier during the tong Dynasty
9:19moving Eastward Caravans would pass
9:21through yongan Chinese for Jade gate
9:24pass which was originally a guarded
9:26Outpost along the Great Wall constructed
9:28to oversee trade while keeping out the
9:31barbaric Huns and other Waring Nomads
9:34today from a top this pass one can still
9:36see relics of the great wall and Beacon
9:38Towers peeking out of the desert sands
9:40on the
9:42horizon Jade gate marked one's passage
9:44from the frontier into China proper it
9:47got its name from the highquality Jade
9:49mined in the frontier and transported
9:50into China via this route but of course
9:53silk and other items made the journey
9:54through this pass going both directions
9:57pictured as a Chinese jade B disc used
9:59for ceremonial purposes such discs were
10:02used since prehistoric times and could
10:03be tiny to several feet in diameter and
10:06several inches thick the Chinese still
10:09highly prize
10:15Jade as Merchants passed through the
10:17Middle East and India on their way to
10:19China they brought with them their
10:21religions first Buddhism later Islam so
10:24Buddhism was first established in the
10:26deserts of western China in oases like
10:28this one at
10:34dunong this is Crescent Lake near Ming
10:36shashan or singing Sands Mountain named
10:39for the sound of wind whipping sand
10:41across the dunes it's all part of the
10:44town of dunong a frontier Garrison that
10:46became home to an early Chinese Buddhist
10:48Monastery supported by a large community
10:50of Believers for over a thousand years
10:53dun hang preserved some of the finest
10:55examples of Buddhist art and scripture
10:58beginning in the 4th Century local
10:59patrons dug out hundreds of cave temples
11:02in The Cliff face each housing statues
11:04and colorful murals it's known in
11:07Chinese as Chen fuong caves of a
11:09thousand
11:11Buddhas when entering these caves
11:13visitors are still greeted by Buddhist
11:15art that dates back as early as the 4th
11:17Century from large statues to frescos to
11:20small Buddha icons patrons would come
11:23here to give their devotions saying
11:25prayers and walking in circles following
11:27the karmic wheel the more wealthy would
11:30commission larger images common people
11:32would have a small Buddha inscribed on a
11:34wall with their name and monks and nuns
11:36would copy sutas all of which would
11:37generate good
11:42karma in the early 20th century a hidden
11:45chamber was discovered at dun hang where
11:47it seems that Buddhist monks fearing the
11:49threat of Destruction from Muslims piled
11:52thousands of Scrolls and then sealed up
11:54the secret room these records now
11:56provide some of the richest information
11:58on the history of
12:07Buddhism we're now heading to Roan Tower
12:10at jaug Guan
12:13pass jauan means pass through the
12:17excellent Valley it's the westernmost
12:19extension of China's Great Wall for this
12:22reason it was known to the Chinese as
12:24the first pass under Heaven all under
12:27heaven was a phrase referring to China
12:29so the first pass under Heaven meant the
12:32first pass Chinese Travelers encountered
12:35that marked their return back into
12:37Chinese
12:41territory conversely xan had a more
12:44Sinister reputation as the final gate
12:46that any Chinese who had been banished
12:48from the realm was ordered to pass
12:50through when they were exiled Beyond the
12:52Wall to live among the Western
12:55[Music]
12:57barbarians
13:07the city of Xian was China's capital in
13:09the chin and Han dynasties roughly at
13:12the time of the Greeks and Romans as the
13:14Silk Road reached its height during the
13:16tong Dynasty it transmitted not only
13:18silk and other precious Goods but also
13:20art and religion first Buddhism from
13:22India later Islam from the Middle East
13:25from China's historic capital of xan
13:28Buddhism and other influences would
13:29extend into Korea Vietnam and
13:32Japan at the seven-story big wild goose
13:35pagota in the city's main Buddhist
13:36temple the famous monk shenzong
13:39deposited sutras or scriptures he had
13:41retrieved from
13:43India the city itself housed foreign
13:45residents of all kinds Traders mostly
13:47Turkish speaking peoples but also
13:49Christians escaping persecution under
13:51the Romans a small Jewish Enclave with a
13:54synagogue and then Muslims who built
13:56China's first mosque note the Arabic on
13:59the top of this
14:01Arch today the great Mosque of xion and
14:04the big wild goose pagota still stand in
14:06the modern city emblems of China's great
14:08Cosmopolitan
14:11age so although formidable mountain
14:13ranges deserts and oceans separated
14:16these Civilizations for a thousand years
14:18the Silk Road was the artery that
14:19connected the Roman and Chinese Empires
14:21and brought into that circuit key
14:23communities throughout the Middle East
14:25and India each shaping the others
14:27economically and
14:33culturally

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